Even if you load the Media Center onto your computer, you will not necessarily have restored it to factory specs.  What came with 
your computer from the factory included software for the special features of your laptop.  If you close the lid, then the computer 
turns off, for example.  How many such features or how important they are to you, I can't say.  Unless you can get the Media Center 
customized for your laptop (from HP, for example), then, I suggest that you stick with Vista.  I think that Vista Home Premium 
contains the features that the Media Center had and more.  (Sorry if this doesn't quite answer your questions, but you need to 
know.)

I think that there are more differences between XP Pro and Media Center, but that is not an educated speculation.  XP Pro will allow 
you to play and burn CD's, but the interface in Media Center may be nicer.  Watching and recording live TV has to do with whether or 
not you have the hardware to do that.  (Do you have an input on your computer for a television antenna or cable connection?)  It is 
not necessarily an operating system issue, but the operating system must support what you want to do or the application software to 
do it.

I think that the real question here is why do you want to get rid of Vista and go back to the Media Center?  What are your goals in 
doing this?

I strongly suspect that the reason someone "upgraded" to Vista was to get rid of all the junk that HP loaded onto the laptop.  If 
you could go back to "factory specs," then you would have to put up with all that junk, too.  Actually, you may like all the junk, I 
suppose. :)  I don't like mine on my HP!  And it sometimes doesn't work, too.

Dean Kukral


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Vanessa H." <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, November 11, 2008 8:36 AM
Subject: [PCBUILD] Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005


Good morning all,
    I was given a HP dv6110us laptop running Vista Home.  I would like to restore it to factory specs. It came with Windows XP Media 
Center Edition 2005.  I do not have restore disks and the restore partition of the hard drive has been wiped out.  I do have still 
have a valid product key sticker on the bottom of the laptop for XP Media Center.  Does anyone know where I can download the XP 
Media Center Edition operating system?  Someone told me the only difference in XP Pro and Media Center is a media center program 
that plays/burns CD/DVD's and you can watch/record live TV.  Is this true?

Kind regards,
Vanessa Henderson

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